Angel Darío, pictured here at 10 months with a NAPA occupational therapy student, was born three months premature. He has benefitted from early childhood development classes, conducted by Common Hope social workers and the NAPA occupational therapy field school, which his mother attended this summer.

FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

“He weighed two or three pounds—you could hold him
in just one hand.”- Gumer Ordoñez, Common Hope social worker

Just three pounds at birth, Angel receives intervention that will prepare him for school

His mother, Lesbia, attended NAPA-OT training in early childhood development

Lesbia gave birth to her youngest child, Angel Darío, when he was almost three months premature. “He weighed two or three pounds—you could hold him in just one hand,” says Gumer Ordoñez, the family’s Common Hope social worker.

While pregnant with Angel, Lesbia experienced high blood pressure, which was identified by clinic staff at one of her check-ups. Clinic staff recognized that this was a special case and referred Lesbia for further care at a hospital in Guatemala City, where she gave birth.

While Lesbia and her newborn son recuperated in the hospital, nurses and specialists counseled her on the importance of early childhood stimulation and how it could positively impact her son’s development. This summer, Lesbia got to learn even more. She was one of 15 mothers who received training during the first occupational therapy field school, put on by the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA) and hosted by Common Hope.

Little Angel is almost a year old now, and his doctors say it is unlikely he will suffer any long-term effects from his premature birth. Still, Lesbia is fully aware of how vital early stimulation will be for him as he continues to grow.